Ouster of Rev. Thurman A. Hargrove Outlined, Second Baptist Church, Worcester, MA

[Ian David]

Black Collar Crime

Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Ouster of Hargrove outlined

By Bronislaus B. Kush TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF
[e-mail]

WORCESTER— The trustees at the Second Baptist Church on Hammond Street removed the Rev. Thurman A. Hargrove, a prominent local black clergyman, from his pastorship last fall because church attendance was “dwindling” and the congregation needed new direction, according to a court document.

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Rev. Hargrove, who has been pastor of the church since its incorporation in 1960, asked the court last Friday to issue a restraining order and injunction, which would basically reinstate him.

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Mr. Salmon, in the affidavit, also charged that Rev. Hargrove and his wife had been collecting Social Security benefits for years while drawing his $500 weekly salary.

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In the affidavit, Mr. Salmon said Rev. Hargrove “physically assaulted” a trustee by pushing him off the pulpit as he was about to deliver a sermon.

More:
http://www.telegram.com/article/20080220/NEWS/802200563/1116



See also (on the other hand):

Congregational Douchebaggery

Tuesday, February 19, 2008
No room at church
Rev. Hargrove locked out after years at 2nd Baptist
By Bronislaus B. Kush TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF
[e-mail]

WORCESTER— On Oct. 23, 1988, a standing-room-only crowd of at least 300 packed the small red-brick Second Baptist Church on Summer Street to salute the Rev. Thurman A. Hargrove on his 30th anniversary as pastor.

There were many heartfelt testimonies and tears for the transplanted Southern preacher, who, over the years, fought for minority rights and helped find jobs for many struggling Worcester-area blacks in the 1960s and ’70s.

Today, the Rev. Hargrove, who had numerous violent encounters with the Ku Klux Klan in his native Alabama, has been locked out of the church he founded in 1958. The church’s leadership has cut off his salary and is trying to terminate his church-paid car insurance.

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During his tenure, Rev. Hargrove fought for civil rights and aggressively worked to find jobs for needy blacks, often meeting with the top leaders of companies such as Wyman-Gordon, Heald Machine Co. and Norton Co.

More:
http://www.telegram.com/article/20080219/NEWS/802190611/1116